Autism Therapy: therapist

definition of therapist: Person trained to provide a certain therapy. For example, a child with autism who rarely speaks words would meet with a speech therapist.

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Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Matson, ML, Mahan S., and Matson JL, published in 2009, summarized Oct 5, 2010

Parent training may be one way to decrease the time and cost of therapy for a child with autism.

This review article describes methods that can be used to train parents of children with autism to act as therapists for their children. While there are many cases of parent training in autism research, there are few autism treatment plans that are designed around using parents. Research shows that parents are able to gain skills in therapies such as applied behavior analysis (ABA). The authors suggest that a lifelong treatment model of parent training may be prudent even for those children who respond well to early intensive behavioral treatments.


J Autism Dev Disord, by Gibson, JA, Grey IM, and Hastings RP, published in 2009, summarized Aug 19, 2010

Regular and high quality supervision of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists may improve the success of ABA intervention.

The focus of this study was on how ABA therapists feel about their work. The survey, of 81 therapists working in ABA schools, found that the therapists who were the most happy had the most support from their bosses. The therapists who received the most support from their bosses also felt that they were doing the best job with the students. The best bosses were those who showed empathy for the therapists and who had a style that rewarded the good choices of the therapists. The study was performed in Ireland, but the authors note that it did not include all ABA therapists in Ireland.


Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, by Tager-Flusberg, H., Rogers S., Cooper J., Landa, Lord C., Paul R., Rice M., and Stoel-Gammon C., published in 2009, summarized Aug 12, 2010

This article describes a new framework that can be used to define a child’s level of spoken language and to measure if therapy may be effective for children with autism.

The aim of this article is to offer measures that can be used to see whether interventions are useful in teaching language skills. The report describes the effort of a working group from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders that spent 18 months setting benchmarks to describe a child’s language level. The working group suggests that therapists move away from the term functional speech and instead use a developmental framework for language. They note that it is hard to measure the early stages of language: first words and use of communication. Their framework must still be worked on so that it includes these first types of communication.


Behavior Change, by Jurgens, A., Anderson A., and Moore DW, published in 2009, summarized Jul 8, 2010

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) may help children with autism learn to speak and play and be more social.

The purpose of this case study was to teach communication skills to a three-year-old child with autism using PECS, and to see if PECS training led to wider behavior changes. The therapists taught PECS using highly preferred items to help the child want to learn. The study found that PECS training came with increased verbal behaviors from the child. This result agrees with other research that says that spoken words increase after PECS training. The authors also found that the child was more social and played more after PECS training.


Florida State Senator, Jeremy Ring, understands the problems of parents of kids with autism and other behavioral difficulties managing their child’s healthcare. He developed a Facebook-like, but private, free Web-based healthcare management platform. Mercurian helps families organize family care teams – this can be anyone from a home care attendant to a relative to teachers and therapists. Team members can share as much information as they like to help track the child’s progress. The hope is that the data collected will help families notice changes in behavior, improvements in communications between families and professionals, and provide updates to schools and physicians.

Read original article: Senator Creates Website for Children with Autism


This radio interview with Brett Lee, cricketer and part-time music therapist, told the story of a music therapy foundation for kids in India with autism. Mewsic, Lee’s foundation, works with The Music Therapy Trust to bring music as a healing tool to underprivileged children with special needs. In his own words, Lee explained, “We are teaming up to give autistic children a better chance in life. The empowerment of healing…. [A] lot of people are going to benefit from it.” Other members of the music therapy community contributed in the interview; Dr. Lucanne Magill, recently moved to India to help train music therapists who will eventually use individualized therapies for the children. India's National Centre for Autism is also playing a role.

Read original article: Aussie Cricketer Launches Music Therapy Academy in India


The Jamaican Autism Support Association (JASA) was formed in 2007, but members are gaining support. When Kathy Chang co-founded JASA there were just a few families offering each other support and information, now there are over 200 parents, caregivers, and therapists. Their latest support and awareness event was Surfing for Autism and included a day of water activities for kids and discussions among service providers and parents.

Read original article: Autism Support Group Aims to Increase Disorder Awareness


Cai Zhaohui is the sole caregiver for his son with autism. Cai blogs about his son and living with autism in China. For example, after a wait, his son was admitted to the Yilin Rehabilitation Center in Qingdau, and there is only one ABA-certified therapist in China. Yan Feng, a professor at Shanghai Fudan University explained that the number of children on the autism spectrum in China is difficult to know because of the social stigma. Yan stated, “Parents need to become autism experts themselves in order to counterbalance the current imperfections in today's social system. Qingdao's Yilin center is a good example of this, as it was established by Fang Jing, herself a mother of an autistic child.” Cai hopes his sina.com microblog and his book, Daddy loves Xihe, will help bring more awareness and support to China’s children.

Read original article: Chinese Autism Kids Face Misunderstanding



Please comment on this autism topic.

 


MY SON IS 5 YEARS OLD AND HE GETS VERY NERVOUS AND STRESSED OUT SO I GOT A WEIGHTED COMPRESSION VEST WHICH IS MORE THAN JUST WEIGHTED IT IS ALSO COMPRESSION TO MAKE CHILD FEEL LOVED OR AS THOUGH HE IS GETTING A HUG .


MY THERAPIST DIRECTED ME TO A VERY GOOD SOURCE OF WEIGHTED COMPRESSION VESTS AND THE RESULTS ARE REMARKABLE TO SAY THE LEAST. WHEN WE PUT THE VEST ON HIM HE BECOMES CALM RELAXED AND MUCH BETTER -


I THINK THAT THIS VEST WHICH IS VERY SLEEK LOOKING SO HE CAN WEAR IT AT SCHOOL IS REALLY GREAT SEE VESTS


HTTP://WEIGHTEDVESTFORAUTISTICCHILDREN.COM


Responding to movement therapy

Feb 15, 2012 by Whole Medicine

Have readers of this forum heard of Interactive Metronome?

I have worked with numerous LD's.  Because ASD has as a major component deficits in Executive Functioning, focus, attention and inhibition, I have had tremendous sucess with students on the Spectrum.

TJ, a 12 y/o male with ASD was still bed wetting and presented aggressive/assaultive behavior towards younger siblings and classmates/instructors.

  • After 6 IM sessions bed wetting ceased
  • After 15 sessions TJ displayed the ability to self-monitor escalation of aggressive emotions/behaviors, ending physical attacks upon sibling

  • TJ now attends mainstreamed H.S., classes and no longer requires a F/T class aide


JR was a 17 y/o male dx'd with Aspergers comorbid with ADD and ODD behavior.  Due to gross/fine motor deficits and very low muscle tone he was anxious about any physical activities and exhibited poor self-concept

  • After 4 sessions he began to show generalized timing improvements and his self-confidence grew
  • After 12 sessions Mom reported he was self-initiating chores at home!
  • JR gained confidence in his athletic abilities and learned a left handed [non-dominant side] lay-up 

Please feel free to contact me if you want to learn more. 

 

In Good Health!



Edward Jonathans BSc-IMC
Sensory-Motor Therapist


Thanks for featuring my book Following Ezra on your site. However, I need to correct some inaccuracies in the post.

1. Ezra was never nonverbal. LIke a lot of children on the autism spectrum, he was remote and difficult to connect with when he was 3 or 4 years old.But he always had language and never lost it.

2. It wasn't a therapist who suggested that we celebrate our son. At a difficult moment when he was 3 and my wife and I were having difficulty connecting with him, a therapist suggested we might need to "grieve for the child he didn't turn out to be." I realized I did not have the instinct to mourn -- nor did I think that would be the most helpful response to having such a child. Instead, I was committed to celebrating and loving the child I had. While of course we have made great efforts to help Ezra live the most complete and fulfilling life possible, the approach I describe in my book was never to try to fix or change my son, but rather to support and celebrate him

3. Ezra did not "recently" complete his first film, as you write. He created "Alphabet House" at age 12 after he had already made a few other films.  He's now 16 and has made many more animated shorts since then. "Alphabet House" house was recently adapted as a children's book, published in October 2011. It's called "E-mergency!" and is coauthored by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra. The Boston Globe named it one of the 10 best children's books of 2011.

4.Ezra's comments about autism and Judaism were not a response to a question. They were observations he made in the speech at his bar mitzvah, when he turned 13.

I would appreciate it if you'd fix these errors in the post. Many thanks,

Tom Fields-Meyer,

author,

"Following Ezra"


Responding to insurance

Sep 13, 2011 by Anonymous

We have private insurance for which we pay a premium and deductible.  It covers occupational therapy, language therapy, physical therapy and psychological therapy but at a combined 75 visits for calendar year.  This is not for each therapy but rather 75 total for all together. Thus, even with illness or vacation times taken, we do not have enough alotted time slots covered to continue therapy for a full year.  Once we run out of the 75 covered slots, we must pay out of pocket.  We pay a copay of $20 per visit.  So, for example, if my child sees a language/speech therapist and the ot once per week it is $40 out of pocket until we hit the magic 75 allowed under the insurance.  Then we woud have to pay $150 for one therapy and $160 for the other per week.  The psychology/psychiatrist appointments are monthly. All of these therapies would be available more frequently and I am told by the therapists very helpful if we could do more than once a week for 1/2 a session but we cannot afford to do this.  The children on the autism spectrum benefit greatly from these therapies and it is something that should be covered under the insurance policies, just as any health or mental health issue should be.



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